


The Millstone

by MariannaTrench



Category: Cobra Kai (Web Series), Karate Kid (Movies)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Dark, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, Gen, Heavy Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Legal Drama, Past Abuse, Past Child Abuse, Past Rape/Non-con, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Stalking, Trauma, Trials, Victim Blaming, heed tags!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-11
Updated: 2021-03-14
Packaged: 2021-03-17 16:36:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,458
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29969250
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MariannaTrench/pseuds/MariannaTrench
Summary: Sometimes perspective on the past can be a real kick in the teeth.  All your enemies turn into children and your heroes turn into monsters.Johnny discovers something disturbing about Kreese’s past.Based on a cobrakaikink prompt. Full text of prompt (and spoilers) in notes.
Comments: 21
Kudos: 35





	1. Chapter 1

_ "But whoso shall offend against one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea." _

_ Jesus Christ.  _

  
“Things got rough after I lost the dojo.”

He’d always had perfect posture. Johnny wasn’t used to seeing Kreese slumped like that. His once huge, intimidating frame, which had struck terror and awe into his students was bent with age and weariness. He almost looked small now. 

He’d gone from being a powerful icon of what it meant to be a man in Johnny’s life. To an old hobo in a homeless shelter. Horribly human and vulnerable. 

“I tried reenlisting, but they wouldn't take me. They got these bullshit psychiatrists now.I mean, what the hell do they know? They weren't there in the shit. Most of them weren't even born.”

Vietnam had really done a number on him. Back then Johnny hadn’t seen the trauma in the man, the damage. Not until now. 

“Then one of my war buddies he, uh, offered me a job. But I felt like it was a handout. So I banged around here and there, doing this, doing that…Then I got old. And for the last ten years, I've been living in places like this… Then I heard about what you did in the All Valley, and I figured, here was my second shot.”  Kreese sighed sadly. “With all the shit that I've seen in my life...I feel like a broken man, Johnny. I don't really think I can be fixed.”

Johnny felt a tremendous swell of pity for the old man. 

“That sounds an awful lot like defeat.” Johnny said, trying to comfort him. But I was taught, ‘Defeat does not exist in this dojo.’ Does it? "

_Cobra Kai wouldn't exist without John Kreese._ He thought. _Go on! Give the old man a chance to redeem himself._ The words were on the tip of his tongue. Everything in him wanted to think the man could change. He wanted so badly to forgive… To believe that maybe, just _maybe_ it hadn’t been that bad. 

_ He had a sudden flash of memory... An arm around his throat, crushing his windpipe. Mr Miyagi standing fearless before a man twice his size.  _

_ “Let him go” _

_ Of the old man just… Allowing Kreese to basically kick his **own** ass. Then mocking his motto and humiliating him with a nose honk. The whole thing had broken Johnny’s heart and turned his world upside down. Part of him felt sickly disappointment to see Kreese so weakened by his own anger. Another part of him blamed himself and still felt guilty for causing Kreese’s defeat… Another part wanted to kiss that old Japanese weirdo for being such a fucking badass... And yet another part wanted to blame LaRusso for no reason in particular.  _

_ He’d never been more fucked up by anything than he had been by that night. And over it all he couldn’t get one image out of his head. The big, terrified eyes of Daniel LaRusso. Worrying about him.  _

Jesus! It had been though... Quite bad indeed. 

He looked over at Kreese. “Stick around John. I’ll think about it. Just don’t get your hopes up.”

Despite the non committal response, Kreese looked like he’d won the lottery. 

xxxxxxxxxxxx

On the drive home Johnny thought back to the next day. When the phone had been for him.. But his voice had been to horse to speak much. He’d never mentioned it to LaRusso but he could still clearly remember the high, annoying, childish voice, all nervous and babbling on the other end of the line.

_“Um… Is…Is that Johnny?”_

“Ya.” He said horsely. 

_“It’s Daniel…LaRusso… From the…You know.”_

He’d rolled his eyes. “Yeah…I know dumbass. Kinda hard to forget.”

_“Yeah…Um… I was just calling to…Um… To check…To see if you’re ok after…Um… I’m really sorry Johnny… I didn’t think he’d…”_

“I’m fine.” He gritted out painfully. “How’s your knee?”

_"…I guess your throat hurts huh? Um… If you want… I can bring you some tea for that Mr Miyagi has some that…”_

“How’s the _knee_ LaRusso?”

The kid had prattled on for ten more minutes before saying an awkward goodbye… Pointedly avoiding the topic of his knee… That was the last time Johnny saw or heard him for the next 35 years. 

He’d have to ask him sometime. If he remembered making that call, he wondered, not for the first time,, if they would have become friends if they’d stayed in touch. Maybe this dumb competition between them wouldn’t exist if he’d made more of an effort to seek Daniel out after High school... But after High school Johnny had disappeared into a spiral of excess, and Daniel… Had disappeared. 

All he knew for sure was that his life became immeasurably more fucked after LaRusso walked into it. Part of him knew it wasn’t entirely LaRusso’s fault. But the timing sure was perfect. 

He pulled into his parking space still wracking his brain over the Kreese situation.

  
xxxxxxxxxxxxx

  
“He says he’s changed… But I just don’t know if I can trust him. I never noticed it before now but… He’s not all there.” He was nervous, pacing her kitchen hyperactively like a Miguel after too much soda.

“You mean mentally?” Carmen asked, pouring herself a coffee. 

“Yeah… The years have _not_ been kind. He was in Vietnam too… God knows what happened there… Have you seen _Apocalypse Now?_ Shit was jacked.”

“What’s he been doing since?” She asked. “You could check with his former employers.”

“ _This and that_ apparently.” Johnny explained. “I don’t think he’s had legal work in decades.” 

Carmen pursed her lips. “Johnny you asked for my opinion.”

“And?”

“I think it sounds shady… I mean… _Really_ shady. He disappears for years, everyone thinks he’s dead? He might have had another identity, or been on the run from the law…Or in prison! I certainly wouldn’t allow him around children… He could be on the registry for all we know.”

“The what now?”  He stopped pacing for long enough to catch her eyebrow quirk.

“The sex offender registry? Johnny? You know what the national sex offender registry is don’t you?” 

He blinked in surprise. “Are you telling me there’s a list of all the perverts in America out there somewhere?” He couldn’t believe it. 

“Well…Yes… All the convicted ones.” His scepticism must have shown on his face. “It’s _online_ Johnny… You can literally look up a name and see what they’ve been convicted of.” 

“Well…Holy shit!” He said, wide eyed with astonishment.  He knew what he was going to be spending his evening doing. Looking up everyone he knew since birth!

“You’ll do it?” She asked. “I know he was good to you Johnny. But you can’t be too careful these days…” She took out her phone. “Let me send you the link…”   
He nodded. “Yeah… I mean, I don’t see him swinging that way, honestly, but I’ll check. Like you said, can’t be too careful.” The idea of exposing Miguel… Or any of the other kids to anything criminal…Let alone _that_ … Well. It didn’t bare thinking about. 

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

The first thing he did was to search the Google for himself to see if any of his DUIs came up. There was a mugshot of him looking like shit. But it was from years ago. Well… If anyone found that they could get the hell over it and quit being a pussy. Still… He was glad he’d had most of his drunken fun before the Internet existed. 

“Ok…On to the Pedos.” He muttered, laboriously typing in the address Carmen had sent him. When the search page came up. He found himself feeling reluctant to type Kreese’s name in. So instead he searched for Sid, and was somewhat disappointed when nothing came up. Then for all his friends since kindergarten, Daniel LaRusso, Carmen's Mom, his own Mother and a couple of celebrities… Without results. 

“Ok…” He took a deep breath and typed in JOHN KREESE.

He swore his heart stopped beating. He stood up for a moment and stepped away from the computer. Feeling like he’d just been hit with a lightning bolt. 

_Fuck! Fuckfuckfuck!_

There on the left side of the screen was a mugshot of Kreese. Young Kreese, as he remembered him

_ He has a conviction. He’s probably been in prison all these years for… For…? _

He sat down again... Young Kreese had a shiner and a split lip, and visible scratches down one side of his face. Johnny had been hoping it was something like indecent exposure for pissing in a public park. But his hope had wained to nothing. It looked like whoever it was put up one _hell_ of a fight...Or else the Cops were mad enough to work him over. 

He clicked on the picture. Holding his breath as the page popped up. 

_Known Aliases: Captain John Kreese._

_  
_**_Description_ **

_Date Of Birth:5/25/1946_

_Sex:MALE_

_Height:6’4_

_Weight:198 LBS_

_Eye Color: BLUE_

_Hair Color: BLONDE_

_Ethnicity: WHITE_

_Well… They have the right guy._ He thought. His hand shook as he scrolled.

**_Offenses:_ **

_Offense Code: 216 FELONY_

_Description: RAPE BY FORCE OR FEAR OF A CHILD UNDER 18 YEARS OF AGE_

_Year of Last Conviction: 1984_

_Year of Last Release: 1985_

_The Department of Justice has no information about a subsequent felony incarceration for this registrant._

_Offender Not Mappable._

Johnny spent at least ten minutes staring at the screen. His fingers were numb. _Maybe I’m having a stroke._ He thought distantly. _Maybe I’ll have nice fucking stroke right here and won’t have to deal with this._

He had let him into the Dojo. He had let him back into his life. He had spoken encouraging words to him. 

He had almost… _Almost_ trusted him again. 

He had _almost_ allowed him to spend time alone with the kids. _His_ kids. 

He thought of the _other_ kids... The ones he used to know. Kids like him. 1984… It could have been a girl he knew from school or… Or a boy… If it was a boy it had to be a student right? He’d have had plenty of opportunities isn't that always the case? Sports coaches? Teachers? Goddam Scout Leaders? …. Kreese hadn’t ever touched _him_ like that but… It had to be one of the others then… Maybe Bobby or Dutch or… Fuck. It could have been _any_ of them… _All_ of them. He might’ve just been caught on one. _Fuck!_ What if it had been happening right under his nose and he never knew?

He fumbled with his phone. 

_“Hi Johnny?”_

“Carmen? Help? I need to… To Google but I don’t know… My fingers aren’t working.” He was aware that he was talking like a... Challenged person... But he genuinely seemed to have lost control of his body. 

_“I’m coming!”_ She sounded worried. Which made him worry about how _he_ sounded. 

Before long she was sitting beside him holding his hand and reading the search results with a look of horror on her face. “Oh Jesus! Johnny! You need to get rid of him! You have to tell the cops he’s hanging around here again!” 

He nodded slowly, still feeling the shock. “I will…But I… I wanna know more… I need to know if it was anyone I could’ve helped.” He got up and took out the whiskey. Pouring them both one. He downed the first and poured another before going back to the computer. “He’ll try to lie to me if I don’t have the story straight.”

Carmen nodded, studying the screen as she typed. “I’ll search the case number and date and see if…” She went silent for a while and Johnny closed his eyes, leaning his head back to try and ease his tension headache. Half hoping she wouldn’t find anything... _Since when did he ever get that lucky?_

“Johnny…Here… I think this might be it.” He opened his eyes. She was looking at him with real sorrow in her eyes. “You want me to read it to you?”

He nodded his head looked away from the screen. 

“It’s a newspaper article. From 1985.” She said, as she began reading:

_“Rapist Freed From Prison After Sentence Appeal._

_In a ruling that has caused much consternation among legal advocacy groups. A convicted rapist has been freed on probation after completing only a quarter of his sentence. The Judge presiding over the case said that multiple character witnesses at the appeal hearing, the man’s impressive military service record and his good behaviour in State Prison served to show that he was both remorseful and no longer a threat to the public._

_Captain John Kreese formerly of the US Marines. Was convicted after a brief trial in December of last year of the violent rape of a 17 year old boy…_ Ah! Bastardo!” She exclaimed. Slapping the desk in anger before continuing.

_“…The Attack occurred in the middle of the day in Reseda. The teenager was abducted from a local arcade by Kreese, taken to an abandoned room in the building and assaulted. Kreese was previously known to the boy. A contentious issue during the trial, with the defence arguing that the victim willingly engaged in sex.Later it was established that the victim tried to escape the arcade but couldn’t run due to a recent knee injury. Multiple witnesses said they saw the victim being manhandled by the…_ Johnny? Are you OK? _”_

Carmen was a nurse alright. By the time he felt the bile rise in his throat she already had the trash can under his face. He thought he was going to throw up his spleen. 

“Are you OK Johnny?” She asked, rubbing the back of his neck. 

“I…” He gagged on the thought. “I know…I know who it was.” 


	2. Chapter 2

_“It's the hardest thing in the world to go on being aware of someone else's pain.”_

_ Pat Barker_

He couldn’t sleep that night. Carmen offered to stay over but somehow he felt better about her staying with Miguel instead. He made her promise to tell him not to go anywhere alone for the next few days. Just until he had the Kreese situation in hand. He didn’t particularly want Miguel to know why though. No need to freak the kid out. No one needed to know they’d been hanging out around a pervert for days on end. 

He thought back to his conversation with LaRusso. The first time he’d ever talked about Kreese to anyone. 

_“It's why I joined Cobra Kai. Kreese gave me more attention than I ever got at home. The guy was more than a sensei to me. He was basically a father… You wouldn't understand.”_

_“My dad died when I was eight.” He said._

_LaRusso’s face had momentary crumpled before he spoke. Johnny immediately regretted saying it._

_“Mr. Miyagi was like a father to me… It's crazy, man. Both finding karate role models.”_

_“Yeah, except yours didn't break your trophy and try to kill you.”_

_“That is true… He was thoughtful for a moment. “You know what?” He called to the bartender “Uh, get me a Kettle martini, straight up, couple of olives, ice, ice cold…And two more of these._ ”

After that conversation LaRusso had attempted to drink the bar dry… He never wondered why. 

If the mere mention of Kreese could do that to LaRusso, he didn’t want to know what the actual presence of the man must have done to him when he saw them together outside the Dojo the other night. 

_“Dead My Ass!” He’d said. Like he’d always known. No wonder he’d looked rattled. It could have been the first time he’d seen Kreese since… Oh my God! Johnny felt nausea at the thought._

_Kreese had fucking laughed! Mocked him about his dead Sensei!_

_“You're lucky he’s not here.” LaRusso had said with barely concealed rage. What’s this? All part of your…” He’d swallowed back visible emotion “…Your new Cobra Kai Johnny?”_

In retrospect Johnny could see how devastated the man had been. There were tears in his eyes. The betrayal he must have felt. The fear. 

_“I came to ask you a question… And I got my answer.” He'd said bitterly, turning away._

“Shit!” He bit his lip. Getting up and heading back to the computer. He found the video… The one of the 84 All Valley. _Why am I torturing myself?_ He wondered briefly. But played it anyway. 

He squinted at the screen, searching the crowd. There was Kreese, standing with his arms crossed, face tense with concentration and and…Something else.

There was Bobby, excited and hyper, chatting and jumping around beside Kreese… _There_ he was,young him, in the middle of a round, kicking ass. He wondered at himself. So confident, so graceful, so… Not so fucked up yet!

And there, on the other side of the square, was Mr. Miyagi. He realised that Kreese’s death glare was aimed in his direction. 

Miyagi had his hands on the shoulders of a very young Daniel LaRusso. He was trying to rub the tension out of them. Young Daniel was biting his fingernails down to the quick, pale as a ghost, his eyes were huge and terrified, he genuinely looked like he was on the verge of turning and running out of there. 

_God_ he looked a _lot_ younger than Seventeen. 

At the time Daniel’s skinny frame, Bambi eyes and high voice had been irritating to him, something to ridicule him for, effeminate, weak.Now it just looked like youth. 

He’d been Miguel and Robby’s age, maybe a little younger. Small for his age too, his limbs were coltish and awkward in relation to the rest of him, he’d still had childlike mannerisms and his voice hadn’t broken… Shit… The kid probably hadn’t even finished puberty properly yet. Some boys were late bloomers like that.Not him… He’d hit the ground running at Eleven and was buying girly mags and shaving at Thirteen. But he’d known kids who were still hairless as eggs long after that. 

_How could anyone_ …? He couldn’t finish the thought, watching the kid’s big brown eyes. _How?_

Jesus H Christ. He’d seen him as such a threat, a rival. For what? The affections of Ali Mills? The kid wouldn’t have known what do do with her if they ever got to second base. It was so obvious now. 

He had turned out to be the better fighter that day. He grudgingly admitted. But then again… _He had to be_ …Johnny flinched as he watched Bobby kick Daniel’s knee out and he fell screaming to the mat. Miyagi immediately falling beside him and embracing him. Cradling his head and holding him close, sheltering him with his body to comfort him. The old man stroked his hair and whispered in his ear. 

He couldn’t _ever_ remember Kreese being gentle with him like that. Kreese would have considered it queer to openly show emotion like that… _But, apparently, not to fuck little boys_ … _Better not even try to examine that concept right now_ he thought.

He paused and squinted at Bobby and Kreese, standing on the other side of the square. Bobby looked devastated by what he’d just done. But Kreese was smiling. 

He thought of Kreese’s manipulation of him in the diner… Back at the shelter… His whole life.

_“I ruined your life? Come on! You had no life before you met me.”_

_“It doesn’t look good. LaRusso training your son like his own... I guess it’s good you’ve still got that Mexican… Better hope that LaRusso doesn’t sink his mitts into him.”_

“Fuck you old man.” He muttered to himself. LaRusso was the only thing keeping Robby safe right now. _I failed my kid on his very first day in this world, and I’ve been failing him every day since._

He realised, with extra self loathing, just what a dangerous position he’d but Miguel into. _I want you to know… I’ll always be on your side, and I’ll always have your best interests at heart._ That’s what he’d told Miguel. Miguel who trusted him implicitly. 

_Then I allowed a convicted pederast who likes little boys with dark hair and big brown eyes and olive skin to hang out with him and, potentially, know everything about him including his home address… Depending on how much he’d been snooping around the office._ Johnny shuddered. 

Miguel had come to him yesterday with a concern about Kreese roughing up his annoying little friend and he’d brushed it off. _“He the mouthy one? He probably deserved it…. John Kreese and I go ways back…”_

_What if something had happened to Miguel? Would he even have told me after that? I’m a terrible fucking person._

_W_ hat had he done? He decided not to wait until morning and called the Police. 

xxxxxxx

_“Sir we’ve already had a call about this person…An officer went to check on him today and he was no longer at the shelter. If he makes an appearance again be sure to call us. But there’s not much we can do unless he’s trying to spend time with minors.”_

“He was! He was hanging around teenagers at my Dojo!” 

_“Well It’s a moot point if we can’t find him, question him and prove it sir. He’s a free man now and if he wants to move back to his old neighbourhood he’s actually not in violation of anything.”_

“What? That’s _bullshit_ … One of his former victims lives in the goddamn neighbourhood! I’ll bet that’s who called you about him.” 

_“I know it’s frustrating sir but I don’t make the rules.”_

He hung up and put his head in his hands. He had a blinding pain behind his eyes, he lay down on the couch and watched the light bleed into the room, listened to the traffic sounds as the day started. Watched the clock. At 9am he knocked on the Diaz’s door until Miguel opened, still in his PJs and bed hair. 

“Sensei? I thought it was Sunday?” he said groggily. 

“I need to talk to you.” He said. 

Miguel’s eyes widened in concern. “Are you ok? You don’t look so good.”

“Can I come in?” He asked. Looking around for Carmen. He could use some help with this conversation.

“Sure… Mom and Yaya are at Church.” Miguel explained. “You want Coffee?” He asked, looking Johnny up and down, and correctly judging him exhausted. Johnny nodded and sat on the couch. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes.

“Here” Miguel handed him a cup and he would have inhaled it if it hadn’t been so hot. “No offence but you look like shit Sensei. Did something happen?” The kid looked so nervous. Maybe it was better to pull the bandaid off quickly.

Johnny nodded, patting the seat. “Sit… I need to talk to you and you need to listen and not freak out ok?” Miguel nodded and sat beside him, chewing on his lip. 

“So… I had hoped not to have to tell you this, because I didn’t want to scare you but…” He realised by the expression on the boy’s face that he was scaring him anyway. _Just say it._ “Your mom and I googled Kreese last night. He’s on the sex offender list. Do you know what that is?”

Miguel nodded slowly. “Wh…What did he do?” 

Johnny hesitated for a moment, then sighed. “You’re gonna look yourself if I don’t tell you aren’t you?”

“Yeah of course! You can’t just say that and not give me the details! The guys been hanging around the Dojo for days!” His voice was squeaky with anxiety. Johnny would have laughed if the context had been remotely funny. 

“I don’t want you freaking out the other kids… Or their parents for that matter, they’d shut us down in seconds.” 

“OK… Just… Tell me.”

“He raped a boy back in the 80s. A teenager.”

Miguel’s mouth dropped open. 

“He only got five months. The judge was on his side… Probably paid off by someone.”

“Oh my God.” Miguel whispered. “Oh God!” He put his hands over his mouth. 

This next part was going to be tough. Johnny hated himself for putting that look on Miguel’s face. “I called the cops. He’s gone. They can’t find him. Hopefully he’s gone for good. But you need to be careful. He could still be around and…”

_and he uses rape as a revenge tactic._

“…I don’t want you to go wandering on you own for a while ok? Buddy up. And you need to tell me if you see or hear anything. Anything at all.”

“Ok” Miguel said, looking unbelievably young in that moment. 

“Also…” Johnny cleared his throat, hating that he had to ask the question. “I was pretty careful not to leave him alone with anyone but…If he… Did or said anything… Creepy to you…”

“What?” Miguel looked startled “To me? No!” 

“You’d tell me if he had right?” Johnny asked quietly. “You can always come to me with that kind of thing you _know_ that right?” 

Miguel nodded. Johnny wasn’t convinced. He had a slight frown on his face. He could have been angry… He _should_ have been,

“I’m sorry I brushed you off… About Kreese hurting Demetri. I’m gonna make sure nothing too bad happened to him ok?” 

Miguel’s eyes widened. “You don’t think…?” 

“I really don’t… I don’t think Kreese would have risked it while he was trying to get into my good books. But we can’t be too careful.”

Miguel was staring into the middle distance. Obviously thinking about every single interaction he or any of his friends had with Kreese. Which , blessedly, hadn’t been too many. Still. It had to be unnerving. 

“Miguel?” the boy jumped slightly and looked at him. “It’s going to be fine ok. We’ve got this. I promise.” 

Miguel nodded, shaking himself quickly and talking a sip of coffee. “Yeah… Ok. Got it.” 

“Don’t live in fear now OK? Just be aware.” 

“OK Sensei.”

Johnny nodded. The conversation hadn’t been as painful as he’d feared. 

“You should take a nap.” The kid said. “You must’ve been up all night with this.”

Johnny waved away his concern. “I’m fine. I got things to do today.”

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

_Things to do_ turned out to include getting day drunk and falling asleep on the couch for five hours.

He stared, bleary eye’d, into the mirror

_Look at yourself. You dissipated fucker. Take shower for fuck’s sake._

He felt more human after that and did some human stuff like laundry and grocery shopping. Then he called Carmen and told her about his fruitless call to the cops and his conversation with Miguel.

“Just… Make sure he’s ok for me…Please?”

_“He’s fine Johnny… Kids today… They know more than we used to. They’re less easily shocked.”_

She was probably right. They had internet now and hasbrownmetoo and all that stuff. Still… Miguel had seemed shaken up… And pissed off.

_“Johnny… Are you going to talk to Daniel about it?”_

He didn’t know if he should. If he was LaRusso… He wouldn’t want that subject raised ever again… He definitely wouldn’t want Johnny knowing about it…

Then again… If he was LaRusso. If he’d just seen Kreese recently outside the Dojo and… Johnny assumed… Called the cops on him. Well… He’d definitely want to know the guy wasn’t in the picture anymore.

_“Johnny?”_

“Yeah…” He took a deep breath. “Yeah I am.”

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

He decided to park a little way down the block rather than driving in and making a scene. He walked into the Dojo as quietly as he could. There was obviously a Sunday evening class as kids were milling around. However, where he’d been expecting straight lines and synchronised crane kicks, he saw… No karate at all.

There was a kid painting the fence, one weeding a flower bed and two kids arguing over the best way to lift a large rock with a plank.

 _What new age cult kind of show are you running LaRusso?_ He wondered. As he got closer he saw that the boy painting the fence was Robby. Well, there was nothing wrong with the kids reflexes. The very second Johnny set foot on the grass Robby was in front of him, getting right in his face.

“What are you doing here?” He demanded. Sticking out his chin, generally trying to look like a tough-ass. “If you think I’m leaving with you you have another thing co…”

Johnny put his hands up. “Chill Robby! Jesus. I’m not here to kidnap you. I just want to talk to LaRusso.”

Robby looked at him with a mix of anger, fear and confusion. “I’m not going back…” He said.

“Back where?” Johnny was at a loss. “What am I missing here?”

“You… You know I’m living with him right?” He asked though clenched teeth.

Johnny did a double take… _Living with?_ “Um… May I ask _why?_ ”

“Mom took off… They turned off the power.” He was looking anywhere but at Johnny, digging at the grass with his toe.

Johnny thought he was going to pass out. “Your Mother took off… Like…Disappeared?”

“With a guy… And a bag of pills.”

 _“Shit_ Robby! Why didn’t you call me?” He felt a rising fury in his chest. _That waste of space! She’d fucked off and left him alone, with unpaid bills!_

“I didn’t need to!Robby snapped. “Sensei LaRusso came and got me. _He_ gave a shit what was going on in my life!” He turned on his heel and marched off.

Johnny called after him “Robby! Get back…”

Who was he kidding?The kid was long gone. In every sense. As if the guilt he was carrying was already heavy enough. He watched his son walk away from him with tears in his eyes.

“Johnny?” LaRusso asked from behind him. “What do you want?”

When he turned he saw the man's expression soften. Goddammit! He didn’t want sympathy… He wasn’t here for that.

“Maybe you should come inside.” He said.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

They stood on mats, staring at each other like idiots inside the rustic building. Miyagi’s picture looking down on them benevolently.

“She just… Abandoned him?” He asked. “How did you...”

“He told Sam, she told me.” LaRusso shrugged. “It seemed like the right thing to do… I was coming to ask you about it the other night but when I saw… _That man_ there. Well, Johnny. I guess I saw clearly what kind of person you _really_ are.” He said it with a knowing look.

_Oh Yeah? What kind of person would that be? He thought. Wait… Does he think I’m like Kreese? Does he think I...Knew?_

There was a glint in LaRusso’s eye that spoke of potential violence. Johnny clenched his fists at his sides, he wouldn’t be provoked this time.

“I thought I’d better keep Robby safe, away from you and Cobra Kai.” He said tersely, his jaw tight with tension. “So If you want to take him away with you... You can go through me to get him.” He finished, clearly ready for a fight.

“Relax LaRusso. If Robby is happy here and you’re happy to have him then what can I do about it? I’m not here for that.”

LaRusso visibly relaxed, his shoulders falling. “Wh…What do you want then?”

“I need to talk to a student of yours, skinny, whiny, irritating like poison Ivy?”

“Demetri?” 

“That’s the one.” Johny smiled.

“Why would you want to talk to Demetri?” He asked in confusion. “No one wants to talk to Demetri…” He trailed off.

“Look I don’t want to roll out the whole production twice! Just call him in and I’ll talk tothe both of you.”

LaRusso shrugged and called out the door.

“Demetri! Could you come inside for a moment please?”

 _So polite to his students._ Johnny smirked inwardly.

Demetri walked in and stood between him and Larusso. Arms across his chest, posing with all the false bravado he could muster, which wasn’t much. Johnny didn’t know how LaRusso expected to train this stick insect. He took note of the bandaid on his nose.

‘What the hell do _you_ want?” He snapped at Johnny.

 _Insubordinate stick insect. No wonder Kreese had smacked him._ Still, he was aware he’d have to tread carefully here. If the kid had been alone with Kreese long enough to get a smack then anything could have happened.

“Demetri.” LaRusso closed his eyes briefly “Be polite.”

“You know how he got that?” He asked Daniel, putting his finger in the kids face, earning him a death glare from Demetri.

“You got in a fight, right Demetri?” LaRusso asked, looking over the kid’s head at Johnny. “Right?”

“Miguel tells a different story.” Johnny said.

“Dammit Miguel!” Demetri groaned. “I asked that idiot not to say anything!”

“Hey! He was just trying to protect you!” Johnny jumped to Miguel’s defence. “I wanna hear it from you though.”

“Wait… What’s going on?” LaRusso was getting agitated again.

“Nothing I hope…” Johnny tried to soften his voice as much as he could, He might be an annoying kid but he was still just a kid.“Demetri. Tell us what happened the day you got the broken nose?”

Demetri swallowed hard. “Um…I” He cleared his throat. I went to Cobra Kai… Was thinking of joining up…” He looked at his feet, squirming.

“What happened?” Johnny pressed him, not wanting to put words in his mouth.

“Um… The old guy was there…Kreese.”

_“Alone?”_

It was LaRusso who spoke. Johnny glanced up at him, he was staring at the back of Demetri’s head. If there was any doubt in his mind that LaRusso was the victim in that report the look on the man’s face erased it. Johnny was reminded of nothing as much as that kid at the 84 All Valley, biting his fingernails off in fear. He might have grown older but the eyes hadn't changed.

“Um yeah… I talked to him about joining and… Well… He kinda punched me.” Out of the corner of his eye Johnny saw LaRusso flinch hard.

“Kinda? He kinda punched you or he actually punched you?” Johnny demanded, a little harsher now. There could be no room for doubt about this.

“Well Obviously!” The kid glared at him, pointing to his nose. “He fuckin’ punched me OK!?”

“What else?” Johnny pressed him.

“What? Nothing else. They guys a psycho!”

Johnny believed him. But he needed LaRusso to hear it again. “Demetri look at me.” He said firmly, holding the kid’s eye. “ _Anything_ else? You can tell us.”

“OK OK!” Demetri yelled, throwing up his arms dramatically. Johnny’s heart nearly stopped. “I critiqued his tattoo ok? I probably provoked him. I probably should have kept my mouth shut! WHATS NEW?” He stared petulantly at Johnny. “Is _that_ what you wanted to hear?”

 _Yes actually that’s perfect._ He thought, with massive relief. Finally exhaling. “Well… You don’t have to worry about him anymore. He’s gone. I called the Cops. He won’t be back.”

Demetri scoffed unconvincingly “I’m not _worried_ about him!”

But Johnny hadn’t been looking at him. He’d been looking at LaRusso standing behind him. The man looked like someone had literally drained the blood right out of him. He was swallowing convulsively. Cold anger burning in his eyes.

“Ok… Well… Good.” He said awkwardly.

“Can I go now Sensei?” Demetri turned to ask Daniel. Who nodded jerkily.

“Y…Yeah and Demetri? Remember. It wasn’t your fault. No matter what you said to him. There’s never _any_ excuse for an adult hitting a kid like that…OK?” his voice sounded so strange, forced, wrong.

“Yes Sensei” He bowed and exited the Dojo.

Johnny was afraid to look at him. when he finally made eye contact again he'd pulled himself together a little. But he still looked… Off.

Daniel waited for the door to close and Demetri’s footsteps to fade. Then he closed the distance between them and slammed Johnny into the wall. Hard. It took everything Johnny had in him not to defend himself as he pulled him forward by the collar and shook him. 

“Just _what_ were you so scared of Johnny?” He balled up Johnny’s shirt in his fists. Hissing the words through clenched teeth. “What exactly did you think happened to Demetri?”

Johnny took a deep breath, closed his eyes. _Don’t push back._ He told himself. _Don’t do it! Let him use you as a punchbag if he wants to, just don’t push back!_ He bought the image of Daniel as a boy into his mind. _That boy, the one you beat up and picked on… The one your 'father figure' hurt in the worst possible way._

“Well?” He snarled, shoving him back again. Johnny’s head hit the wall. Daniel was getting frustrated with his lack of fight. “You came here to check on him? _Why_ Johnny? What did you suspect? Did you think you’d put those kids in danger? Is that it? Afraid of getting sued I suppose?” Daniel's voice was cracking, he was barely holding it together. Johnny had never seen him like this. 

“I Googled him.” Johnny whispered. Daniel stilled.

“You what?” 

“You heard me.” He said softly. “Have you ever Googled John Kreese Daniel?”

Maybe it was the use of his first name or maybe something else but the anger drained out of him and he dropped Johnny’s shirt and took a step back. His eyes now held some emotion Johnny couldn’t read. He shook his head no.

_I get it man. If it had been me I wouldn’t want to Google the fucker either._

Maybe Daniel knew, or suspected, that he knew. No matter, he was going to keep up the pretence for his sake. There’s no way he’d want to dig up that dirt after 35 years.

“Daniel… He’s a registered sex offender.” Daniel’s entire body stiffened. He nodded slowly. _You knew that already._ Johnny thought.

“I swear to God I didn’t know anything about that! Not until last night. I called the cops right away… I… I wanted to believe he could change… I let him mess with my head… But please believe me. If I’d known… I’d have killed him before I allowed him anywhere near the kids.” _Or anywhere near you._

Daniel nodded again. “If...” He cleared his throat, his voice was rough. “If he comes back...”

“Then I’ll deal with it. If you see sight or sound of the bastard tell me. Please?”

“Ok.” He breathed. “I have a class to teach Johnny.” He shrugged, looking at his feet awkwardly, like Demetri had

“Ok… Daniel…” He didn’t know what to say. “Thanks for looking after Robby... It’s more than I can do, apparently” He choked out. He made it across the garden and down the block to his car without breaking down. 

If he’d turned back at the Dojo door he’d have seen Daniel stumble and catch himself on the wall, before slowly sinking to the floor. Breathing like he’d just run a marathon. Trying, without success, to still his trembling hands. 

Xxxxxxxx

That neighbourhood at twilight was just unsetting. Hustlers and bag ladies hanging around on all the corners, blatant drug dealing. Johnny didn’t care. He pulled over next to a familiar face. Homeless Lynn was standing on the curb outside the shelter ranting about something to the thin air.

He rolled down the window. “Hey Lynn!”

She turned from her invisible conversation. “Fuck you want Karate boy?”

“I’m looking for someone. Guy I used to work with? Big? Curly hair?”

“Total prick?”

“Thats him!”

Lynn turned to her invisible companion “Oh you should’ve seen him, built like a brick shithouse, trouble comin' a mile away!” She said to the air.

“Hey! You seen him round here?” He asked, trying to keep her attention.

“Maybe I have… Can’t remember” she snapped. He rolled his eyes and handed her ten dollars. “Mmmm Yeah I think I saw him yesterday waiting for a cab outside the shelter. They threw him out.”

“Any idea where he went?”

“Might’ve mentioned staying with a friend… I dunno.”

“Thanks.” he rolled the window up and got the fuck out of there as quickly as possible. Staying with a friend? Kreese didn’t have friends. Not around here. Well Besides… He groaned. "Ah _Balls!_ "

When he arrived at the Dojo it looked like everything was as he had left it on Saturday night, dark and empty. But when he entered the building there was the unmistakable smell of cigar smoke, and light under the office door. He made some noise as he entered and Kreese appeared in the doorway, a silhouette he’d know anywhere. Arms crossed, legs shoulder width apart.

“Hi Johnny.”

“Hi.” He replied. A harsh edge in his voice. “How’d you get in here John?”

“I've learned a few tricks in my time.” He shrugged. Johnny could see the glint of his teeth in the half light. “I figured you wouldn’t mind. The shelter kicked me out.”

Johnny gritted his teeth against everything he wanted to say.Every evil name and curse on his lips. 

“Why?” He asked. Turning on the light. Kreese blinked a couple of times, shielding his eyes with his hand.

“I got a warning from one of my roommates. They’d heard the management talking. Seems a little bird has been telling tales about me to the Police. Not for the first time either.”

“Oh yeah?” Johnny replied, aching to punch his lights out. “Who?”

“The little Dago fuck. Who else? He wasn’t satisfied with destroying my life the first time I guess.”

The self pity in his voice, calculated to make Johnny feel sorry for him. Johnny hadn’t noticed the emptiness in the man’s eyes before. Once he knew everything that was coming out of his mouth was bullshit, it got easier to see what was underneath.

It was like a car crash. Johnny knew he should do something to stop the conversation but there was a strange fascination in it.

“What do you mean the first time?”

Kreese sighed dramatically, sitting on a bench, his shoulders slumped, his pathetic old man impression absolutely perfected. “Back in 84 Johnny, didn’t you ever wonder where I went? I was locked up for _months_ … Before a Judge reviewed my case and discovered it was bullshit.”

So that’s how he was spinning it. Johnny wondered exactly how stupid Kreese thought he was.

“What case John? What did he accuse you of?”

“The little bastard tried to seduce me. Can you believe it? Just after the All Valley… I always suspected it was the Old Man’s doing. He probably wanted to ruin me and take over the Dojo."

“Wait…” Johnny’s voce quavered with rage “He… Daniel LaRusso… Tried to _seduce_ you?” The image of a barely pubescent boy who got misty eyed every time he looked at Ali Mills flashed in his head. He felt sick. 

“Yes Johnny! And when I turned him down he accused me of forcing myself on him!” He cried, all wounded innocence. “Can you believe it? I lost everything! Now that he knows I’m here, he’ll stop at _nothing_ to get rid of me. He shook his head sadly. “Johnny you’re the only friend I have.”

Johnny’s hands were shaking in his lap. He felt horribly ashamed at the absolute certainty that, had he heard Kreese’s sob story a year ago, he’d have bought it.

But that was before he’d gotten to know Daniel again. He had his issues with the guy. He wouldn’t call them friends. But he was honest, to a fault. He knew that. Besides… He’d seen the expression on Daniel's face when he thought Kreese had been alone with Demetri. He’d never forget it. It was not the expression of a scorned seducer. 

Johnny had a rare moment of cool-headedness. _If I tell him to get the fuck out he’s in the wind, and maybe looking for revenge._ He thought. So instead he consoled him “Oh my God” this and “Scumbag” that. telling him he could stay as long as he needed to. He patted the man on the shoulder. And he saw a brief smirk cross Kreese’s face before he composed it back into patient suffering. 

Johnny had found the loose thread, and now the whole sweater was unravelling. 

He got the hell out as soon as he could. His skin crawling. As soon as he’d driven to the other side of the block he took out his phone and called the Cops.

“Hello, I’d like to report a break-in.”

**Author's Note:**

> Based on this Prompt
> 
> https://cobrakaikink.dreamwidth.org/702.html?thread=264638#cmt264638
> 
> S2, Johnny is conflicted over whether or not to let Kreese teach at Cobra Kai, so he talks to Carmen about it. She says that if he's hiring him to work with kids, he should at least Google him and make sure he's not on the sex offender registry.
> 
> Johnny does and, lo and behold...he is, for raping a minor back in December, 1984. Johnny is obviously horrified but looks up the court transcripts of the case, wanting to know if it was one of the other cobras, if he could have stopped it.
> 
> The victim's name is redacted, but he isn't one of the cobras, just a teenager that Kreese jumped and dragged into an alleyway. Johnny feels sick, but at least he knows it's nothing he could've stopped...
> 
> And then he reads the part where the victim is asked why he didn't run. And he says it's because his knee was broken a few days earlier.


End file.
